Nobody Cares: PRS

Aeon Jiminy · Feb 28, 2021

Biden and First Lady Bring Dignity and Interest to Houston Food Bank. Promised $2000.00 relief check unable to attend.

President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden pitch in to help at Houston Food Bank

The largest food bank in the country made quite an impression on the first couple who were eager to learn what more the federal government can do to fight hunger.

www.khou.com

Dakota Tebaldi · Feb 28, 2021

The relief was just passed by the House; it has to pass the Senate now before it can be signed. I presume you know how all that works...

Sovereignty · Feb 28, 2021

I was thinking about racism, that it has external, learned components and internal, innate components. We all have the capacity for racism because of the innate components, but they are not sufficient to make us racist. I'm guessing the internal components are fear and disgust, primarily disgust.

Wondering, I looked up articles on disgust on the internet and came across "Mystery of Disgust" in Psychology Today--which describes some genuinely disgusting stories (warning)--and it seemed to check a lot of boxes about racism.

A long collection of quotes:

... humans don't really exhibit aversions towards most of what we consider disgusting–including our own excrement–until we are taught to.

... disgust appears to be a cultural acquisition: people are taught what is disgusting,

... at some point between ages four and eight we develop an acquired sense of disgust that is different from this innate sense of distaste [Reminds me of pictures/videos of small children oblivious to race.]

... the difference between simple fear and disgust is as startling as it is stark: roughly speaking, if fear is our response to real or perceived harm to our physical selves, disgust is, in a sense, the reaction to actual or imagined threats to our souls. [Reminds me of the depth and persistence of racism, how it ties into one's sense of identity, how pictures of children hugging and playing together can be so striking. (Our society at large is racist.)]

Rozin and his colleagues contend that a central property of core disgust is that the object deemed offensive is capable of "contaminating" other objects–even if the person sensing this contamination knows that it's just an illusion. [Reminds me of white-only drinking fountains.]

But intriguingly, in most cultures the same word used to describe feces and decay is also applied to morally-dubious acts–what Haidt and Arizona State University psychologist Carol Nemeroff, Ph.D., call "sociomoral disgusts." While physical disgust is usually pretty similar around the world, sociomoral disgust varies widely by culture. [Racism is a form of sociomoral disgust.]

It takes a while, but the article does explicitly make the link to bigotry by referring to the caste system of India, but I think researchers have missed an opportunity to explore that link more fully. For instance, why are myths of incest, a disgusting act, used to shame groups of people?

Meanwhile, the attendees at CPAC disgust me.

Innula Zenovka · Feb 28, 2021

Sovereignty said:
I was thinking about racism, that it has external, learned components and internal, innate components. We all have the capacity for racism because of the innate components, but they are not sufficient to make us racist. I'm guessing the internal components are fear and disgust, primarily disgust.

Wondering, I looked up articles on disgust on the internet and came across "Mystery of Disgust" in Psychology Today--which describes some genuinely disgusting stories (warning)--and it seemed to check a lot of boxes about racism.

A long collection of quotes:

It takes a while, but the article does explicitly make the link to bigotry by referring to the caste system of India, but I think researchers have missed an opportunity to explore that link more fully. For instance, why are myths of incest, a disgusting act, used to shame groups of people?

Meanwhile, the attendees at CPAC disgust me.

You might find Caste, by Isabel Wilkerson, of interest

Amazon.com: Caste (Oprah's Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents eBook : Wilkerson, Isabel: Kindle Store

www.amazon.com

‘Caste’ Author Isabel Wilkerson Will Change The Way You See The World

“Alabama did not get around to passing a referendum on interracial marriage until the year 2000,” Wilkerson points out. “And 40 per cent of the voters wanted to keep the law.”

www.vogue.co.uk

danielravennest · Feb 28, 2021

Sovereignty said:
Wondering, I looked up articles on disgust on the internet and came across "Mystery of Disgust" in Psychology Today--which describes some genuinely disgusting stories (warning)--and it seemed to check a lot of boxes about racism.

Disgust can be irrational. Consider spitting into a glass of water, then drinking the water. Most people would find that disgusting, even though the spit just came out of the same place you would drink. My guess is we react with disgust to things that might hurt us, such as spoiled food that tastes or smalls bad. But not all of it is instinctive, some of it is learned. So we can be fine with something we are used to, while other people find it disgusting because they are not.

Kamilah Hauptmann · Mar 1, 2021

Kamilah Hauptmann · Mar 1, 2021

Aeon Jiminy · Mar 1, 2021

Yes, one of our journalists was dismembered, but we're focusing on the areas we do agree on.

White House defends decision not to punish Saudi crown prince, says U.S. does not sanction foreign leaders

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the United States would recalibrate its relationship with Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Trump administration.

www.cnbc.com

Kamilah Hauptmann · Mar 1, 2021

Free · Mar 1, 2021

Kamilah Hauptmann said:

Yeah, I certainly wouldn't enjoy the need to bury him.

Sovereignty · Mar 1, 2021

danielravennest said:
Disgust can be irrational. Consider spitting into a glass of water, then drinking the water. Most people would find that disgusting, even though the spit just came out of the same place you would drink. My guess is we react with disgust to things that might hurt us, such as spoiled food that tastes or smalls bad. But not all of it is instinctive, some of it is learned. So we can be fine with something we are used to, while other people find it disgusting because they are not.

That's why the Psychology Today article was titled "Mystery of Disgust".

Part of my curiosity comes from the idea of racism as hate. That's confusing to me since I tend to think I'd hate someone because of what they did to me. Racism involves hating people you have never met and have never had anything to do with. I presume the motivation must be "I hate them because they disgust me." which to me puts a finer point on what racism is all about.

Of course, systematic racism is an impersonal phenomenon. I think it can occur even inadvertently but still be pernicious. It's another story.

Speaking of castes in India, I saw a documentary where a doctor went into a village and treated/cured a man with leprosy--only he did not tell anyone that was what he was doing. He told the filmmaker that if he said anything, people would totally shun the man. I later met someone from India at work who was briefly a supervisor. He told me I was part of his leper colony, strong words coming from him. I mentioned to him that doctors now can easily cure leprosy (old news). He had no idea, which did not surprise me.

Dakota Tebaldi · Mar 1, 2021

Kamilah Hauptmann said:

Wow, what a jerk

Free · Mar 1, 2021

Veritable Quandry · Mar 1, 2021

The Bernie/Warren/AOC faction has nothing to do with this. The AFL-CIO put Biden into the Senate the first time he ran. He has supported unions his entire career.

Free · Mar 1, 2021

Veritable Quandry said:
The Bernie/Warren/AOC faction has nothing to do with this. The AFL-CIO put Biden into the Senate the first time he ran. He has supported unions his entire career.

Yeah, but I enjoy watching the newbies catch fire.